Marilyn Monroe - Gladys Baker, Marilyn"s mom ...RARE

Gladys lived in a couple of hospitals. When she first became ill, she was taken to Los Angeles General Hospital, where she was pronounced insane. She was actually paranoid schizophrenic. She wasn't at Los Angeles General Hospital long before moving to Norwalk State Hospital. She was there from about 1934 to 1938 but she tried to escape so was moved to Agnew State Asylum, a more secure facility near San Francisco.

She was released at some point in the mid-1940s (I think) and wandered around the Pacific Northwest, at one point landing in Portland, Oregon, where Marilyn visited her. She also ended up back in Los Angeles at some point and was living with Marilyn and one of her former guardians, "Aunt" Ana Lower. Gladys's other daughter, Berniece, came for an extended visit during this time and was also staying there for a period in 1946.

Not long after relocating to LA, Gladys ended up in Norwalk State Hospital again. At some point she got out, but I'm not sure when, probably the late 1940s. In the early 1950s she was living in a Homestead Lodge, a private nursing home near Pasadena. When Marilyn's career took off in 1953, she could afford to have Gladys moved to Rockhaven Sanitarium in Verdugo City. She remained at Rockhaven until 1967. A trust that Marilyn had set up for her care paid the bills.

Upon Gladys's release from Rockhaven, she moved to Florida to be near Berniece. In Florida, she lived in a series of retirement homes. She died in 1984 at the age of 81.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Marilyn Monroe - Gladys Baker
• Marilyns mother
• bernice Baker sister RARE

[BritishSnail]

Why didn't Marilyn visit her Mother, or did she?

[TheMarilyn1969monroe]

@BritishSnail \yes she did, they had contact once a while....

[Hans021220]

Does somebody know where Gladys Baker was putted too rest?

[TheMarilyn1969monroe]

@Hans021220 Gladys died on 11 March 1984, in Gainsville, Florida, aged 81 years.

[michele3350]

did marilyn know her father? she is such an intriguing person, in part because i don't think we got to know her as a person before her death. is her sister alive? thanks you for posting these pictures!

[TheMarilyn1969monroe]

@michele3350 Marilyn knew her father , they did not had good touch, because her father showed not much interest. The sister of Marilyn is 91 years old now and lives in Gainesville Florida.

[awej]

She definitely had Norma's bone structure, some writer said that looking at her was like looking at Marilyn in her 60's.

It's starnge - just other day I was cruising internet, looking for Gladys pictures and here you go - I have this  nice video in my mail box:)

[TheLadyMalfoy]

Wow! I've never seen a picture of MM's real mother. I agree there's a good similarity between MM and her mum. IMO, though, I think MM was more attractive.

How sad Gladys couldn't have been well enough to spend more time with MM and actually help her through some of the more difficult times of her life. I don't know where you found these incredible pictures, but I'm gald you did.

Thank you for sharing with us. :-)

[rutsableich]

I don't know why this saddens me...

[MrSlater20]

@Hans021220 No Gladys had seperated from Mortensen, MM's father was Granger.a colleague of Gladys.

[markknize]

her mother looked like her more older than younger

[JM4EDR]

Powerful stuff.

Did she ever know Marilyn was as iconic as she is?

Stunning woman as is both her daughters. I never knew Marilyn had a sister, I thought she was an only child. Really quite sad seeing all this stuff.

[musicaltheatergeek79]

I wonder, did Gladys know who her daughter was/had become? Or was she too far gone and out of touch with reality by that time?

[bamabelle327]

@michele3350 Her own words about Stanley Gifford, her supposed biological father: "I never got to know my father. Even when I became a successful movie star, he still refused to acknowledge me. All I really wanted from him was to let me call him my father. But he wouldn't give me the satisfaction of knowing him. He didn't want the world to know I was his love child... his mistake." Her most motherly figure was probably her Aunt Ana.

[SilverScreenJean]

What instrumental music is playing in the background? Song- orchestra? It fit the video very well but would love to get a copy of it. :-)

[Dawnmariegrasso]

@Dawnmariegrasso yes i have that as well runs in my family

[mrstaffytoots]

wow

[TheManzfield7]

All men who abandon their children are *********s. Blessed children are the one's

that were planned (lucky) with real mothers and fathers. When parents know better,

they usually do better. At least we hope. Benefit of the doubt: Gladys possibly could

have done better if she hadn't been ill. If Mortensen had been a man, he would have

stepped up to the plate. Bravo Gladys, at least you tried.